There have been 31 artists express interest in painting a new mural for a building facing one of Collingwood’s busiest streets.
According to a staff report being presented to the Corporate and Community Services Committee tonight, the temporary public art committee struck to find an artist and new mural for the side of the Shipyards Medical Building on Huron Street is sifting through the applications to narrow it down to a shortlist of three.
The former mural, called Heading Dockside, by Beverley Smith, was removed last year after staff announced the wood panels it was painted on were showing signs of rot and the mural was beyond saving. It was displayed on the building for 19 years.
The call for artists went out earlier this year and the new mural will be painted onto aluminium panels, which will be installed on the wall.
The Collingwood Heritage Committee said it preferred the town not allow the brick to be painted in the interest of preserving the integrity of the brick.
The building was the first brick structure erected in Collingwood, and is the only yellow brick building in town.
Once the committee has created a shortlist of artists (no more than three), each will be asked to submit a concept design and plan for the mural, and will be compensated $550 for their participation. According to tonight’s staff report, the concepts will be shared publicly on the town’s Engage Collingwood website.
From those submissions, the committee, which includes the former mural’s artist Smith, will make its final decision on an artist and design by the end of April.
The budget for the selected artist is $20,000, which includes travel, insurance, materials, and preparation for transportation among the artist's other fees and expenses.
The town’s parks, recreation, and culture department staff will install the mural.
The lifespan of the new mural is intended to be 10 years. It will be created offsite and installed in September. It will be unveiled during the Collingwood Art Crawl Sept. 19.
